Greek Government nominates Stavros Dimas for president

The Greek government announced on Tuesday that it has chosen conservative politician Stavros Dimas as its candidate in the vote to elect the country’s president that will be held by parliament on December 17.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a televised speech that Dimas is “widely regarded as a person who unites and inspires. He unites citizens beyond their party preferences and inspires seriousness, trust and respect.”

Dimas is a wellknown conservative politician who held several ministerial positions in Samaras’s government led by the centerright New Democracy party.

Dimas was also appointed European Commissioner for Social Affairs and Environment.

“As was its duty, the government decided to remove this uncertainty and to fully restore political stability by accelerating the election for president of the republic” Samaras added, in reference to the memorandum of understanding concerning the bailout program signed between Greece and its creditors.

“The presidential election has become a pretext to force early elections. So, while we have stabilized financially and finally entered a recovery period, clouds of political uncertainty are starting to gather once more over Greece,” the prime minister said.

Samaras declared that the eurozone’s decision to extend the bailout program for two extra months was crucial in his choice to announce early elections. He considered that even Europe thinks that Greece should start a new era.

The Prime Minister stressed that Dimas is “also appreciated by Greek society and respected by the international community.”